UPDATED: Fico: No, Yes, No! Nothing Clear in Parliament Yet

Robert Fico, Smer-SD

The plan to allow PM Iveta Radicova and her coalition to continue governing until the elections in March 2012 has hit a hurdle.

The idea, given the thumbs up by all four coalition parties and President Ivan Gasparovic, requires a formal change to the Constitution, which was supposed to be pushed through parliament next week. To change the Constitution, though, requires the support of at least 90 MPs, meaning also from the opposition.

Robert Fico of opposition party Smer-SD firstly said his party would support the loophole in the law, which he himself proposed to the president as an option, but now he has had a change of heart, conditioning his support possibly to the President putting certain restrictions on Radicova’s interim government.

Fico’s sudden swing could come as the coalition has managed to put their differences aside and continue almost as normal, passing legislation without Fico. He probably did not count with unity in the coalition again after the split 10 days ago in a failed confidence vote.

There is also talk of the coalition voting confidence in the government again, but this is something that PM Iveta Radicova rejects. Nevertheless, everyone this week has been changing their minds suddenly as the political game of chess is played out in Slovak parliament, so nothing written in stone here.

UPDATE: all the parties eventually agreed in the evening and voted for the Constitutional change with 139 votes from 140 present MPs, meaning the interim government will continue and PM Radicova will head to the EU summit on Sunday.